Pointing to a wriggling earthworm, a sign of good soil health, Gail Fuller explained that conventional, tilled fields would be too cold for earthworms to be that close to the surface.
We can have different views about the agricultural policies that the South African government adopted since the dawn of democracy, but the one thing we can all agree on, I hope, is that the sector has grown tremendously –
Addressing gender disparities in the agricultural sector is a prerequisite to increasing women and youth participation in the sector, creating much-needed employment opportunities and ensuring food security, says agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo.
Groundwater reserves in Africa are estimated to be 20 times larger than the water stored in lakes and reservoirs above ground. These are the freshwater stores that flow in rocks and sediment beneath the Earth’s surface.
Good! It’s a crucial area for us to focus on, and it’s often neglected.
Dutch grower Sjaak Huetink is enthusiastic about using the Poulsen Robovator camera operated hoeing machine. “We have never sprayed as little or made as few weeding hours. Our plots have never been cleaner.”
Late harvest and the rush to get grains out of the fields may present an opportunity to rethink the need for tilling fields this fall or not.
It is widely agreed that today’s global agriculture system is a social and environmental failure. Business as usual is no longer an option: biodiversity loss and nitrogen pollution are exceeding planetary limits, and catastrophic risks of climate change demand immediate action.
Many rural black women feel "betrayed" by traditional leaders.
Soils support life. And without soils, many of the world’s living organisms will find it difficult to survive and thrive. Besides forests and grasslands, this includes economically important plants like rice, which feeds more than half of the world’s population.
The information presented is based on assumptions about a range of economic, technological, environmental, political, institutional, and social factors.
Some African countries are still sceptical about planting Genetically Modified (GM) crops. However, farmers in the southern tip of the continent, South Africa, have long been planting GM crops for over a decade and there seem to be greater benefits in terms of yields and savings on input costs.
Intercropping is an all-encompassing term for the practice of growing two or more crops in close proximity: in the same row or bed, or in rows or strips that are close enough for biological interaction.
The dry weather has left its mark in Europe this year. There is little demand for potatoes on the market, although it is now starting to recover.
The AI in agriculture market was valued at USD 600 million in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 2.6 billion by 2025.
Connected fields, autonomous and electric agricultural machines and advanced data analysis systems will contribute to more sustainable and profitable agriculture.
In the 05 August 2019 note we sketched out the importance of the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Agreement to South Africa’s agricultural sector .
The total of 2.3 million maize hectares planted in 2019 is only 0.8% below the area planted with maize in 2018, according to the BFAP Baseline Agricultural Outlook for the period 2019 to 2028.
South Africa’s wool industry is on tenterhooks as exporters seek clarity on a Chinese ban on imports of the fiber following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease earlier this year in the world’s second-biggest producer.
An increase of 16%, 21% and 25% in the gross production value of wheat, barley and canola respectively, according to the BFAP Baseline Agricultural Outlook for the period 2019 to 2028.
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